Ongoing environmental change in the Mekong floodplains

The Mekong floodplains, covering 70,000 km2 and supporting millions in Cambodia and Vietnam, are facing ecosystem deterioration due to climate change and rapid economic growth. While hydropower is a recognized threat to biodiversity, the paper argues that an over-emphasis on dams by the scientific community has obscured other significant local drivers of environmental change.

• The Mekong floodplains, covering roughly 70,000 km2, are critical for food security, supporting one of the world's largest fisheries and providing the primary animal protein source for millions in Cambodia and Vietnam. Additionally, over 50% of the rice produced in Vietnam is grown in these floodplains.
• Rapid economic growth and integration into the global economy have increased the exploitation of natural resources for energy, manufacturing, consumption, and export, leading to the deterioration of floodplain resources. While hydropower growth is viewed by scientists and conservationists as a threat to livelihoods and biodiversity, the specific impacts of area dams are not yet fully understood.
• The document argues that the international scientific community has focused too heavily on hydropower dams, which obscures the full environmental picture and distracts from other local threats that are contributing to ecosystem deterioration and transforming the floodplains.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2019). Ongoing environmental change in the Mekong floodplains. https://www.sei.org/publications/ongoing-environmental-change-mekong-floodplains/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Ongoing environmental change in the Mekong floodplains. 2019. https://www.sei.org/publications/ongoing-environmental-change-mekong-floodplains/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Ongoing environmental change in the Mekong floodplains |date=27 February 2019 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/ongoing-environmental-change-mekong-floodplains/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2019ongoing, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Ongoing environmental change in the Mekong floodplains}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2019}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/ongoing-environmental-change-mekong-floodplains/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }